2011 Buffalo Bills Predictions
From 1988 to 1999 the Buffalo Bills produced 10 winning seasons and made 10 trips to the playoffs. Those days are long gone. The Bills haven’t made the postseason since, and they only have one winning season (in 2004) in the last 11 years.
The Bills went 4-12 overall and 1-5 against AFC East foes in 2010.
Offense: Buffalo ranked 25th in the NFL in total offense last season with 304.9 yards per game. It finished 28th in the league in scoring with 17.7 points per contest.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was handed the starting quarterback job in Week 3 of last season and played well enough that Buffalo didn’t take a signal caller in the draft. Fitzpatrick passed for 3,000 yards with 23 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
The Bills only ranked 24th in the league in passing offense with 197.4 yards per game, but that was a big improvement over the 157.2 passing yards per game they averaged in 2009.
Fred Jackson is the featured ball carrier. He rushed for 927 yards and five touchdowns on 4.2 yards per tote last season. 2010 top draft pick C.J. Spiller was second on the team with 283 rushing yards. The Bills must find more ways to get him the ball in space this season.
Buffalo’s receiving corps was better than advertised in 2010 as Steve Johnson exploded for 82 catches for 1,073 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’ll be asked to come up big again with Lee Evans now in Baltimore.
The offensive line is still a work in progress and has been for a decade.
Defense: The Buffalo stop unit ranked 28th in the league in scoring defense in 2010 with 26.6 points allowed per game. It ranked 24th in total defense with 361.6 yards allowed per contest.
Head coach Chan Gailey has made a commitment to this side of the football. He brought in Dave Wannstedt to coach the inside linebackers and drafted defensive lineman Marcell Dareus, cornerback Aaron Williams and linebacker Kelvin Sheppard with the team’s top three picks.
Buffalo will ask Dareus to contribute right away. That’s because the defense ranked last in the league with 169.6 rushing yards allowed per game last season. He teams with Pro Bowl tackle Kyle Williams to instantly improve the defensive front.
The Bills are counting on Shawne Merriman, who sat out virtually all of last season with an Achilles injury, to return to form. They need him to bolster a pass rush that ranked 27th in the league in 2010 with only 27 sacks.
With Paul Posluszny now in Jacksonville and Aaron Maybin in New York with the Jets, the team is counting on Sheppard to contribute right away.
The secondary is solid with cornerbacks Leodis McKelvin and Terrence McGee and safety Jairus Byrd. Williams adds talent and depth behind them.
Prediction: 4th Place AFC East – The Bills added a couple more pieces this offseason, but they still have a ways to go before they’re challenging the Patriots and Jets. NFL odds makers have listed the Bills as a +2000 long shot to win the AFC East.
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